Young journalist held in Iran, 'a country I love so much'

Iason Athanasiadis is still a young man at 30, but he's an
old school, shoe leather journalist. "Journalism's
deepest, most honest contributions inevitably spring from on-the-ground
reporting, unencumbered by policy agendas in Washington,
London, or other foreign capitals," writes Sandy
Tolan, author and University
of Southern California journalism
professor, today
in Salon. "That's what epitomizes the work of my
friend and colleague Iason
Athanasiadis, and it's why his detention by
Iranian authorities, on June 17 when trying to board a flight out of Iran, is so
troubling."

Athanasiadis is the kind of
photographer whose images illuminate people in unforgettable ways. One image, taken
in Iran and posted in a slideshow
of his work on Salon, shows a young girl in baby
blue sweater and ski cap amid a sea of black-clad women during a celebration of
the martyrdom of Shiite Islam's first Imam. Another captures two young men
sitting in the stands at a soccer match, each wearing a headband with the
green, white, and red colors of Iran,
and one wearing a black Metallica T-shirt.

Iason, as he is known to his colleagues and friends, learns
about a place and its culture before going to work."A year spent living in Damascus,
then another year in Cairo,
gave me a taste of two of the Arab world's great cultural and political
capitals," he writes on
his Web site. "In addition, I lived for four-months in Qatar, a rapidly developing emirate on the Persian Gulf." Athanasiadis spent plenty of time in Iran, too.He's one of few non-Iranians to study Persian
and Contemporary Iranian Studies, notes his Web site, at Tehran's
School of International Studies.

Like many freelancers, the young journalist writes as well
as photographs. And he isn't afraid to put context and perspective into his copy.
"Britain's imperial past and
expert meddling in Iran's
internal affairs" are part of the story, Athanasiadis wrote two years ago in TheFirstPost,
an independent online news magazine. He goes on: "In the hard-line lingo of the
Islamic Republic, England
is the 'old fox of imperialism' and Washington merely its brawny, slightly
ignorant servant."

Born in Athens,
Athanasiadis has a Greek mother and a British father. Iranian authorities have
held him for more
than two weeks now. He was detained on June 17 at Tehran
airport as he was about to board a plane for Dubai. So far no charges against him have
been made public. Greek authorities have been working through diplomatic
channels to secure his release.

On Monday, the head of the Greek Orthodox church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spoke on
behalf of Athanasiadis, calling
him "a member of the Orthodox church." The patriarch sent the metropolitan emmanuel of
France to Iran's General
Counsel in Instanbul to "communicate his personal interest in the release of
the journalist," according to the Athens News Agency.

Athanasiadis sent
an e-mail to his girlfriend hours before he left for the airport, which she
shared with CPJ shortly after he was detained.

"It's my last day,"
he wrote on June 17. "When will I be back? Who knows? I love this country so much."

CPJ continues to
work for the release of Iason Athanasiadis along with other
journalists--both
Iranian and foreign correspondents--detained since June 12 in Iran.

Editor's note: The original version of this entry was modified to correct Sandy Tolan's affiliation.

Comments

A Greek acquaintance here was almost amused at my concern for Iason. "He knows such things are part of his chosen profession. He will come out of this even better at his craft." Yes. well... maybe. My thoughts darted to the qualities another Iason shared with the most famous Odysseus - courage and wit in sticky situations, so long as the right gods are in the right mood - 'metis' referring to craft or nous, and to the goddess of wisdom and prudence - η Μήτις - yet, in French, meaning 'of mixed race' as in the Métis or mestizo. That's Iason Athanasiades. We think of him daily and ask the leaders of who detain him to note his eloquent love for Iran.

Thank you for this 'update' which unfortunately only confirms that Iason is still held and we don't know under what charges. I check daily to see if there is any encouraging news and will continue to do so.
alicia from Athens